Elkisn Post 29 downs Morgantown and Parkersburg but losses late to Garrett County Maryland

July 09, 2018

From Elkins Intermountain Newspaper

ELKINS — The Elkins American Legion baseball team capped off a strong week by taking two of three contests over the weekend at Robin Harvey Memorial Memorial Field.

Post 29, which now sports a 15-11-2 overall record, took a four-game winning streak into Saturday’s 7-6 comeback win over Morgantown Post 2.

Elkins fell behind in the contest and trailed 6-4 entering the sixth inning of play. A two-run double from Justin Fike and a run-producing two-bagger by Brett Smith spearheaded a three-run inning that put Post 29 up for good.

Matthew Gainer notched the win for Elkins in six innings pitched. Gainer scattered 10 hits, struck out five and didn’t surrender a free pass in pushing his mark to 4-1-1 on the season.

Fike led the charge at the plate with three hits. Smith, Gainer and Ben Huffman all finished with two each.

Caleb Taylor took the loss for Morgantown, while Devon Neal belted a two-run homer to pace the visitors at the dish.

Post 29 received a strong pitching performance from right-hander Adam Riggleman in its opening-game 2-0 victory over Parkersburg on Sunday. Riggleman, who is now 3-1 on the season, allowed just three hits in the complete-game shutout. He struck out nine batters and walked three.

The lone runs in the contest came in the fifth inning when Luke Petrice and Smith both plated runs with two-out doubles. Smith and Ben Huffman finished with two hits apiece.

Chase Swain was saddled with the loss in six innings of work.

Elkins saw its six-game winning streak come to an end in the nightcap Sunday when it suffered an 8-6 loss in eight innings at the hands of Garrett County (Md.)

Kyle Riggleman took the loss for Post 29 in five innings pitched. Ben McDonald, Fike and Gainer all had three hits in a losing effort. Petrice chipped in with a pair of base knocks.

Peyton Carr earned the win for Garrett and helped his own cause at the plate with hour hits and three RBIs.

“We played good baseball this past week,” said Elkins manager Chris George. “We just missed too many opportunities in our last game or it would have been a perfect week. We stranded 14 runners in that last game that really hurt us. But we beat some really good teams this week and the kids came out and played hard every day.”

Elkins will return to action on Tuesday when its entertains Kingwood for a 6 p.m. contest at Robin Harvey Memorial Field.